52 lists -- week 8 -- list your favorite albums

music is one of those things that can help any mood, any bad day, any problem. it has the power to conjure up memories long forgotten and it can bring together people of all backgrounds. it's actually quite amazing the power music has on our lives.

when i saw this prompt i immediately thought of those albums that i grew up with, that were meaningful for me as i figured out who i was and what i liked. then i went through my itunes library to fill in the rest of the list. as i did so though, i realized that music is not made the way it used to be -- in the past, you listened to a whole album. and that album was solid gold from the first second to the last. but now, artists are so concerned about having a hit, that they focus their energy on two or three songs and the rest of the album is less than stellar. it sucks. take some pride in your work -- you don't just need hits, people will buy your whole album if it's worth it. as a result, my list is filled with older albums that you can listen to the whole way through. most of these albums are older and have some significant meaning to me, but the music is top notch.